Wednesday, 25 November 2015

Unless you know me personally, this might come as a bit of a surprise, but Graeme and I are expecting an addition to our little family this spring! This week we had our 18 week scan where we found out that there's a little dude in there! We are both super excited. It's funny, I was already totally convinced it was a boy, turns out I was right! And now that we have an actual picture of the little guy, this whole thing is feeling a gazillion times more real!

Sunday, 15 November 2015

One of Graeme's friends is expecting a baby in January, and I've been meaning to knit something for their baby for a while. So when my plans got cancelled this Friday, it seemed like a good time to pick up my knitting needles. I brewed myself a pot of tea, stuck on a movie and snuggled up on the couch with the dog. In the end, it really wasn't a bad way to spend a Friday.

I was a bit unsure of what to knit as I know they're already getting a baby blanket from someone, but I eventually settled on this little set from Pickles. I'm not sure I'll be knitting the cardigan, but I think I'll definitely have to knit those little booties as well, they are far too cute. They've chosen to leave the gender a surprise, so my original plan was to knit something a bit more gender neutral. But girls can wear blue right? I'm wearing blue right now, and I'm a girl. Plus, I think they're going for a bit of an underwater theme in the nursery, so this should fit right in, surely. Not to mention it could obviously just as well end up being a boy. (..maybe I should just cross my fingers that it's a boy haha)

Isn't it tiny though? I actually got a bit worried about the size halfway through, and had to stop and consult Google to make sure I wasn't making it too small. And to be honest, I think it might actually be a bit on the larger size as the yarn is pretty stretchy, but that's fine, the kid will grow. I used leftover yarn from when I knitted this blanket (for a different baby), Drops' Baby Merino in petrol. The whole thing (minus the bobble) was knit in an evening, so I'm definitely making one of these again!

Tuesday, 10 November 2015

I always struggle a bit during autumn and winter. I didn't really notice it as much when I lived nearer the equator and there was less of a difference in the seasons, but now that I live in Norway I certainly do. The days are shorter and colder and the evenings are dark and windy, and my creativity totally suffers. It was the same when I lived in Scotland too, and if you look at my old sketchbooks they all seem to follow the same pattern: I draw lots in the beginning of the year, and then around October I draw less and less, and sometimes seem to give up all together. It's not until late January it tends to pick up again, when spring is more in sight and I get a sudden burst of creativity. But right now, it's like I've gone into hibernation. And I'm not a big fan of it either, as I'm usually at my happiest when I'm making stuff and being creative.

So to encourage myself to stay creative during these cold months, I've been working on Ashley G's Paint.Plan.Play course. I love her style and the patterns she creates, and how they always look so playful and fun. And it's been really fun doing her course too. Quite often when I'm drawing in my sketchbook, I get a bit too scared of making mistakes, which can be quite limiting. So I've been enjoying that in this course, it's all about just experimenting and trying out new techniques and not caring. Whatever I make that I don't like, I throw out. It's quite liberating.

So far, most of what I've made has just ended up in my sketchbook (keeping my somewhat terrifying 10 min self portrait company, ha!), but I'm excited to think of what kind of projects I can use my patterns for. I used one of my pages to decorate the cover of a mix cd I made for a friend (and yes, I promise I will post this to you soon, you know who you are!), and I've been toying with the idea of using some of the patterns for some future fabric-based projects. In the meantime, I'll just keep experimenting and trying to combat this anti-creative season!

Wednesday, 4 November 2015

I had a hard time not just posting pictures from our trip to Prague here. We had an awesome time (and took loads of pictures!) but hey, this is "October in Instagrams", not "Our trip to Prague in Instagrams" (if you'd like to see more, you can check out my account @hildeandhercamera). Autumn is here in full, which means lots of colorful leaves everywhere, and cozy nights at home in front of the fire place (making s'mores!) after cold and wet dog walks that sometimes end in dog showers—look at that poor dog's face! I also had a quick work trip to Oslo (hence the mandatory wing photo haha) where I managed to squeeze in a coffee date with a friend. And then of course there was Prague. Such a beautiful city. We had the best time, and we'd love to go back.

Plans for November include making Christmas cards, working on some photo books and hopefully squeezing in a trip to the cabin. I'm also thinking of starting another knitting project, but haven't quite decided what yet. What are your plans?